Wet and wild weather in 2012

The year just passed is described by forecasters at the National Weather Service as “wet, cool bookends with a warm, dry period in the middle.” It was one of the wettest years on record in Western Washington, with wild temperature swings to boot. Here’s a look at some of the data compiled at the forecast office in Seattle. It was soggy overall, and yet the summer was bone dry — the driest on record at Sea-Tac Airport.

At the Weather Service office at Sand Point in north Seattle, there was no measureable precipitation from July 24 through Sept. 9 — 48 days without rain, just a few short of a 61-year-old record.

But by late fall and winter, Western Washington was getting drenched, and the year ended with 46.91 inches of measured precipitation, almost 10 inches more than usual.

Looking at the wild swings from the historically normal temperatures on so many given days in 2012, it would be easy to conclude that our climate has gone haywire. Eleven high temperature records were set or tied, and there were 14 record-low dates.

But consider that the average of the year’s daily average temperatures was 53 degrees Farenheit. What’s the historical normal average overall temperature for a year of Puget Sound weather? It’s 52.9 degrees.

Source For All Data: National Weather Service, Seattle forecast office